Posts tagged social scoring

Are you overlooking some of the most powerful influencers on the social web? Let’s find out.

Traditionally, there has been a 1-9-90 rule when it come to creating and consuming content:

There’s a new element in this equation, though: Content Curators — people who make a practice of finding content relevant to their friends and followers, and then sharing links to that content. I am making a distinction between a curator and an aggregator who pulls content from around the web, usually related to a specific topic, to display on websites generally to enhance search engine optimization.

Of course, we’re all curators to some extent, consuming content and, on occasion, sharing what we find interesting or entertaining. However, there is an elite subset of people who proactively seek out and share content. I know, because I’m one of them. I comb through blogs and articles on an almost daily basis, and share what I consider to be the best and most relevant mobile, social media, and online marketing news to my followers on Twitter.

ExactTarget calls these people “megaphones” and says:

“Megaphones want to connect, educate, and share resources and information online with others. These consumers clearly fall into the ‘influencer’ category—meaning they can impact a brand’s bottom line—but Megaphones represent an especially elite group that takes their online interactions very seriously.“

ExactTarget’s research shows that only 7% of online users are megaphones. It’s unclear where exactly these Curators are drawn from in the traditional triangle, but according to ExactTarget, 65% percent of them are creators. I expect the remainder span some part of the commenters.

Why are these folks important? Because they are influencers. There has been tremendous focus lately on defining, identifying, and connecting with social media “influencers.” It’s a natural pursuit for marketers trying to get their message out. I’ve yet to see a robust approach to this objective, but doesn’t it make sense that an elite group of people who loves to share great content would be natural and important influencers?

Let’s look at the dynamics that make content curators so powerful. Based on some of ExactTarget’s social profiles, a brand might connect with individual consumers through several paths:

It may be difficult to connect through all the possible user-types, but one user “channel” stands out – the Curator or megaphone. Look at ExactTarget’s chart showing social consumption and social contribution (creating, commenting, sharing, and posting):

The Curators are the greatest consumers of content AND the greatest contributors—including sharing. That makes Curators a hub and the easiest users for marketers to reach. Curators, like me, are actively looking for information to share with others, and actively spreading the word. Content Curators are the best online friend a marketer could have!

This means there are significant changes ahead in the social media information ecosystems. Before there was search, there was a world of information available on the web, and a world of people who were interested in it.

The problem was that people couldn’t easily find the websites they wanted. Enter Google, which connected people with the websites (and businesses) they wanted, via keywords. Happily for Google, they were able to use the same method to let advertisers reach consumers with ads, piggybacking on the keywords to target specific types of users.

Within social media, there is no well-established Search. That connection with websites is made through individuals, usually via shared content. What’s clear is that Content Curators are the equivalent of Google in the social world. Curators are the individuals doing the searching and sharing:

Of course, there are a lot of Curators, versus one Google. So, each Curator is the equivalent of a Google who is focused on specific keywords.

If the Curator is the new Google, we can expect businesses to optimize for the Curator just as they optimized for Search on the web. In this new world, Curators become a commodity and they have value that will be sought after. Marketers will seek curators in specific topic areas and with specific traits. Marketers will want to know:

The topics this person curates. Curators specialize.

The networks and communities he/she curates to. Curators who are plugged into niche communities and forums may be even more valuable.

The number of connections on those networks. The volume or following always counts.

The types of connections the curator has. What’s the quantity of different types of social users following this curator: gamers, social butterflies, shoppers, deal seekers?

Reshare value. How many of this curator’s followers reshare the content, and how wide a net do they cast?

The click-through-rate for this curator’s content. How often do people open the items this curator shares?

The conversion rate resulting from this curator’s content. How often does a recommendation from this person generate sales? How often does a click through on a piece of content from this curator result in a sale?

That’s right. I said marketers will want to know CTRs and conversion rates for Curators, similar to the data they want on ads and publishers.

As this kind of information becomes more readily available through tools, the question is what happens when marketers seek and court Curators? Do Curators find a way to monetize their services, as Google did? Would that lessen thier impact? How do Curators change what they do as they become a valuable and sought-after resource? What kind of markets, businesses, and products revolve around the new commodity of Curators?

This is a new view of influence on the social web — what do you think? Make sense?

Neicole Crepeau is a partner in Coherent Interactive, which specializes in web, mobile, and social media design and implementation for small and mid-size businesses. You can read more of her original material at her blog, Coherent Social Media or on Twitter where she is @neicolec.

While I only had a few minutes before we were literally being kicked out of the room, Joe discloses plans for a detailed new website. Joe participated in two panels here in Austin and was quite open about the opportunties, and the problems, of his social scoring system. “Can you remember what Google was like in 1997?” he said. “That’s where we are with Klout, that’s the mission we’re on. It’s almost a ridiculous challenge.”

In addition to the short comments I captured on video here, Joe mentioned that Klout has been on a hiring frenzy to keep improving his service. The four prioirities he articulated were:

He also mentioned several recent successes with Nike, HP and Clairol. “With Clairol, we targeted users of lip gloss and and found passionate bloggers who loved the product and the brand. Even I was surprised that we could have success with lip gloss.”

He also hinted that the actual Klout score we see publically is just “the tip of the iceberg” of analytics he is bringing to brand managers.

Joe has been a frequent visitor on {grow} — primarily to address controversy — and acknowledged that when he planned his product offering, the “ego component” was something he had not thought through. “It’s been interesting to say the least,” he said. “But we keep improving the experience as best we can.”

Hope you enjoy the video. Let me know your thoughts on this latest information from Klout.

“But Mark,” he stammered, “This is all about WINNING my friend. And I am NOT WINNING if I have a Klout score lower than you. That is just pathetic. My tiger blood is raging here. What do I do???”

Sadly, this type of celebrity Twitter rant has become (yawn) routine for me. And every bit of that conversation is absolutely true, except the part about Charlie Sheen calling me.

Well, I do get requests from folks asking for Twitter help every day … usually to re-tweet a notable blog post or perhaps in support of a charity. I’m glad to help where I can but I’ll let you in on a little secret: It doesn’t work.

Some people look at the number of followers I have and a relatively high Klout score and imagine that I can be their gateway to social influence. I’ve been around long enough to know that these factors do not translate into influence at all. Even when I ask people to take action on something I really believe in, typically very little action occurs. This is not a matter of being humble or gracious. It is simply the truth. When I tweet something, it rarely results in tangible action.

Sorry, there is little true influence on Twitter

This phenomenon was also noted in Tom Webster’s fine Brand Savant blog. (It seems like I am quoting him a lot lately!) In an extraordinary measure, he personally contacted every Klout-infested A-list blogger he could think of to help him with a New Zealand earthquake charity appeal.

Tom calculated that the “reach” of his message easily exceeding 600,000. Out of that number, his appeal received 389 clicksand 10 submissions to his cause. Tom admits there were some complications that could have depressed the number but he pithily states that this conversion rate — compliments of some of the world’s greatest Twitter “influencers” — was significantly lower than what would be expected from a random pop-up ad.

Can you imagine the influence of a tweet from one of Twitter’s biggest stars? Wouldn’t that really help the author’s career?! Well, the impact was zero. Literally zero. Not one additional book sale resulted from the tweet.

For those swooning over Twitter-derived influence scores like Klout, this should be a wake-up call. It’s true. On Twitter, no one can hear you scream.

But blogs are another matter …

Marketers should be looking for influence in blog communities. That is where the real magic is happening. Tom Webster made an insightful point in his post — The people who finally took action on his request were strong connections nurtured through his blog-oriented relationships.

I have had the same experience. I KNOW I can move my blog community to action and they can move me to action, too. The connections built through a blog community are extremely strong compared to the weak ties on Twitter.

Curiously, blog activity is not accounted for on most of the popular social scoring measures. In fact, Klout is only looking at those weak Twitter ties right now. One measure that seems to at least take a crack at blog influence is Post Rank. Post Rank is one of the milestones used by AdAge to rate the world’s marketing blogs. What does it really measure? Nobody knows for sure … it is certainly an amalgam of tweets, comments and other forms of online engagement taking place between the blogger and the community. I actually hired a CPA to try to de-tangle the formula for this article and she couldn’t do it!

Nevertheless, if you buy into the notion that blogs nurture strong connections that lead to influence, wouldn’t this elevate a measure like Top Rank ahead of something like Klout?

I think REAL influence is taking place in the smaller, stronger groups found in passionate blog communities. I plucked out the top-rated bloggers via Post Rank and yeah, these people certainly exhibit thought leadership and influence on their communities and beyond.

By explanation — most blogs on the AdAge Power 150 are run by companies, have a staff of bloggers, or aggregated content. I left them off. So while Brian Clark is most associated with Copyblogger, his name is left off because the site is populated by a staff of writers.

Another observation as I looked at this list — there were a few names I did not recognize. How do those names stack up for you?

Any way, something to think about. Does this make sense to you? Are you forming strong ties in blog communities, on Twitter, Facebook or elsewhere? What form of online engagement influences YOU?

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